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These signs were foreseen by Hyskosa, a Vistani most gifted with the Sight. Spread word of these wherever you travel. Only the true hearted can stop the fall of the night of evil.

The light of the sky shining over the dead
Shall gutter and fail, turning all to red.

The night of evil shall descend on the land
When this hexad of signs is near at hand.

In the house of Daegon the sorcerer born
Through life, unlife, unliving shall scorn.

The lifeless child of stern mother found
Heralds a time, a night of evil unbound.

Seventh time the son of suns doth rise
To send the knave an eternity of cries.

Inajira will his fortunes reverse
And all shall live with dreaded curse.

Ravenloft, the Demiplane of Dread. Made up of domains, each of these lands are ruled by a Dark Lord. Dark Lord are irredeemable evil beings of immense power. Each domain acts as their paradise as well as their prison. They can control who and what enters and leaves their land and act as the domain's supreme ruler. The people they rule mostly are oblivious to what kind of creatures they really are, or even that they are citizens of Ravenloft. Their domains are also the Dark Lord's prison and their hell, for they cannot ever leave their lands and every day they are tormented by the objects of their desire, the same that lead them into their moral downfall. Love, victory, revenge, hate...

Behind all of Ravenloft are the Dark Powers. A being, or beings, with tremendous power, that of which rivals the gods. Able to create and trap the Dark Lords in their prisons and shape the very lands of the demiplane. Their true nature and exact intents, even I do not know, and I have spent all my life inside of Ravenloft.

Even though it has only been several years since I last left the place, Ravenloft seems to have vanished from time and space for hundreds of years in your plane of existence; for I cannot find any references or records even hinting at its existence in your libraries. That is until recently, when the "Sojourn", that is Ravenloft, literally appeared as an island in the area. Who, or what, is behind this phonomina, I do not know. This "island" is actually a portal to the demiplane of Ravenloft, taking you to one of the many bodies of water it possesses. Strong currents around the island come and go, like they are controlled by a sentient force. They trap passing boats and draw them in, further populating the lands.

If you had not stopped Marcel, he would have eventually challenged the Dark Lord of Souragne, Anton Misroi, for his domain. Both would have destroyed almost every living thing on the island in an attempt to raise a giant army of undead against one another. The victor ruling over a lifeless land.

But you succeeded says the old man, Dr. Rudolph van Richten, with a smile. He is seated before Jax, Dorn, Andras, Sir ExSixTen and Brenn and Quagmire at a table in a far corner of the Hanged Man. And now I need you to succeed again. I have heard whispers from the Vistani, the same ones you met in your first encounter in Ravenloft, of rumors of stirrings in Kartakass. They whisper that a powerful force in the area has dire plans for that domain. This scroll that you found makes me believe that the second sign is about to happen. Your finding it was not by accident, as there is no such thing as coincidence in Ravenloft. I believe that if you travel back to the island, you will find yourself at Kartakass. There you must investigate the domain, trying to stop the events alluded to in the scroll from taking place if you can. If you fail, I fear that foul events will occur that will make what happened in Sourange look insignificant in comparison.

Sadly, I cannot arm you with much knowledge of the area.Richten continues. I have spent my whole life studying Ravenloft, but still I have only scratched the surface of the place. Though I do know that most of Kartakass is heavily forested and lies in the foothills of the Balinoks. The lands are riddled with caverns. The ground is very rocky and covered in dense forests with twisted paths running from town to town. There are two large towns in Kartakass: Skald and Harmonia. Each with its own history and grandeur, but no doubt each carrying its own dark secrets. As for what you may find there, that I cannot say. The creatures of the night are many and varied in the Demiplane of Dread.
I will not leave you totally unaided however. Not only has Mr. Weaselcrust agreed to join you after I approached him with my tale,Richten says, gesturing to the hobgoblin sitting at the table, but I am also willing to help fund the trip. I have already arranged for a boat and provisions for your journey, and I am also willing to pay you 500 gold each, more than twice that of the previous outing, as well as more on your completion.

I hope this is satisfactory. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. I will do my utmost to arm you with knowledge for your journey. he says with a smile.

Even when they are both sitting at a table, Jax has to crane his neck upward a bit to make eye contact with Quagmire. That alone is apparently enough to satisfy the kobold on the newcomer's battle prowess. He nods approvingly at Quagmire when Dr. Rudolph introduces him. One wonders if Jax has any other standards.

Jax waits until the speech is over before commenting. He speaks in a staccato, barking-like voice. "This scroll is more specific than the last. Like it mentions 'Daegon' and 'Inajira.' Do you know who they are? Maybe, ah, they are these 'Dark Lords?'" Despite the names being mentioned, Jax realizes only after speaking that he really doesn't know what to do once he arrives in the demiplane.

Dorn hangs his head in his hands, rocking slowly back and forth. An astute observer would notice his hair color changing slowly from green to blue (Wild Soul for the day: cold) Dorn gradually recovers his compusure and takes a good look at the newcomer.

"Well, we survived with five last time. I guess with six it should be even easier." Dorn chuckles quietly to himself at his choice of words.

CITIZENS OF JUSTICE, OUR DESTINY SPREADS BEFORE US! WE CAN RAISE AN ARMY OF THE DEAD AND CHALLENGE THE DARK LORD. WITH HIM DESTROYED, THE DARK NECROMANCIES THAT DOMINATE THIS REALM WILL BE AT AN END!

QUICKLY, BY WHAT MEANS DOES ONE CREATE UNDEAD? PERHAPS THAT IS OUR BEST PLACE TO START. ONCE WE LEARN THE MEANS AND CREATE OUR ARMY OF MIGHTY CORPSES, WE CAN USE OUR RIGHTEOUS ARMY TO ASSAULT THE DARK LORD AND BEGIN OUR PURGE OF ALL THINGS NECROMANTIC!

Jax waits until the speech is over before commenting. He speaks in a staccato, barking-like voice. "This scroll is more specific than the last. Like it mentions 'Daegon' and 'Inajira.' Do you know who they are? Maybe, ah, they are these 'Dark Lords?'" Despite the names being mentioned, Jax realizes only after speaking that he really doesn't know what to do once he arrives in the demiplane.

Daegon I have never heard of, but the name Inajira does come tomind. He is a powerful yugoloth, a fiend from theGray Waste of Hades. I remember him mentioned in a book I found that was supposedly from Sigil. I don't understand what he would be doing in Ravenloft however...Richten shakes his head. This scroll that you found is as much of a mystery to me as it is to you I am afraid. Sadly, I left my collection of old tomes back in Ravenloft. Until I can find a way to return, as I cannot seem to re-enter the same way you can, I will have to make do with what resorces that are available to me. I will attempt to do my best to further research the scroll when you are away however. he says.

"Howdy, lads," Quagmire waves a friendly greeting when introduced. He is a hobgoblin of slightly more than average height, with a wide, ready smile and a penetrating voice. He leans back against the wall in a relaxed pose, listening to Dr. van Richten's tale attentively.

"That's quite th' tale, cap'n," he says, when the doctor is finished. "Let me see if I be understandin' ye aright. You want us t'take yer ship, which ye think'll take us t'this Kartakass, and stop some dire, evil happenin's from takin' place. Only, ye don't know what those evil things might be, nor when they'll be startin', nor what we might be doin' t'go about stoppin' em. All ye do know is this here bit o' doggerel about night an' death an' evil an' such."

He sighs and shrugs. "Well, yer money's good, an' I ain't doin' nothin' here that can't wait. Might be we end up doin' some good. When do we set sail?"

ooc

Hi, folks, glad to be joining you. Quagmire is a pretty decent healer. He doesn't do much damage on his own, but grants lots of extra attacks and bonuses, so he works well with other strong melee characters.

Jax, likewise, will be making close friends with Quagmire. He's a melee rogue with high accuracy, so those damage bonuses on the MBA-granting attacks are a nice fit. Also, he should be able to use sneak attack on granted attacks since it was errata'd to be once per turn.